When writing data to multiple die in a conventional flash memory system, a system controller normally utilizes a programming sequence in which during a transaction, data is written to an upper page of a die before data is written to a lower page of the same die. Because of the amount of time for a cache of a die to release after writing data to an upper page of the die, a system controller must often wait idle for a substantial period of time during a transaction before the system controller may execute a write to a lower page of the die.